Are You Happy?
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: Nothing was ever wrong with Jade. They had a perfectly functional relationship even if it wasn't as romantic as it should have been. Roles were understood and obeyed and life went on.


**A/N: Wrote this last night. It was going to start out as something else but I actually like this better.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice nor any associated characters.**

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**Are You Happy?**

The first night Jade left him was difficult; his bed was a restless ocean, tossing him every which way and making him sick through and through. Roy surrendered and simply got out of bed to stretch his limbs and make sense of this mess in his head.

He was a jumbled basket case. Was he supposed to be pissed? Was he happy? Roy reached for the ceiling and then for the floor, feeling his spine realign as he then began to contort his torso to get out the rest of the kinks.

Honestly, he wanted to take a hit off his queen, his pixie dust. Yet he refused to bring himself to the stash. Heroin would only make the mess worse. He had enough to sort out as it was, the clone situation, his own personal views on this damned world, and his Cheshire Cat of a wife.

The clone situation had already absorbed and warped his mind: he had to find the real Roy Harper. He was in a borrowed body with a borrowed name. More than anything, he wanted to clear things up with the real deal so he could find his own name and forge his own life. He'd been striving for almost two years to find that poor kid and wasting away his own time and life in hopes of finding a life that may be dead or destroyed beyond repair.

He needed to find his clone. There was no other solution.

Which was why his world was crumbling. The world around William Roy Harper Junior was collapsing upon itself like a black hole trying to swallow itself and the rest of the universe. The clone situation had put brash ideas in his brain and driven him to make daring decisions. Decisions that might've contributed to the damned world he existed in and sought to overcome and control.

Roy's realized already that the clone situation has ruined his already damaged life. And probably his "love" with Jade.

Jade. Jade was a complex situation, a marriage of sincere lust and visceral drives. He still hadn't pieced together how he'd ended up with such a piece of work like her.

Or why she'd walked out. Up and vanished, the actual embodiment of her literary counterpart. She'd left a note saying she wouldn't be back, no explanation, no reason; Jade had just stepped out of his life and walked away, simple as that. And more than anything, Roy wanted to know why; things didn't just happen like that because things happen for reasons. Unless you're a clone where you were made with an intent and purpose and once that purpose is lost, you're simply a husk, a shell, left to rot and die by careless creators. Then there may not be a reason for everything.

But he was pretty sure his obsession with his clone was what drove her away. He picked a popcorn kernel out of the trashed apartment's dingy couch and threw it in the general direction of the kitchen.

"You should clean that up," said a husky, alluring voice.

Roy looked up to see her standing there, a shadow of dark hair and long nails. Her uniform's short skirt style swished in the solemn wind that sauntered in. Damn draft. "Shut up, Jade."

"There's a reason I'm not here right now, Red."

He rose to his feet and ran one hand through his hair. The apartment was trashed. Coffee stains on the carpet. Food scattered everywhere, open chip bags, empty soda cans, and half-eaten sandwiches. The place was disgusting. "It's not because of the mess, I know that much," he told the air.

A purr ruffled the silence. "And what? You haven't taken a hit yet? Slow night..."

He wished he could tune her out; a sober fist clenched. "I don't need heroin to be happy."

"So you're happy?" asked the shadow as the wind blustered through again, making her a picturesque Marilyn Monroe. Except Jade didn't try to keep her skirt down.

Roy still wasn't sure what to think about it all. He'd miss his wife, certainly. The sex was great, who was he to complain? And she could cook and clean. And she liked to snuggle, for what it was worth. Nothing was ever wrong with Jade. They had a perfectly functional relationship even if it wasn't as romantic as it should have been. Roles were understood and obeyed and life went on.

But was he happy she was gone? Not exactly, no. He could act like a bachelor again, finding women on the street to sate his needs while putting the rest of his energy into finding the real Roy Harper. It would be easier than having her yell at him to stop searching, trying to convince him Roy was dead, and begging him to quit being an addict.

He wasn't exactly happy.

But he wasn't sad either.

Having her gone meant simpler times. He could eat when he pleased. He could sleep as much as he wanted. He could put more money towards finding Roy instead of feeding her. He wasn't too terribly upset. He missed her presence and her comfort, but not her.

"Are you happy without me?" questioned the darkness once more, the black mane whipping to the mercy of the breeze.

"No."

Once more, the voice turned to a purr, seductive and wanting. "Then you miss me, Red." He suddenly felt fingers on his shoulders, walking along his collar bone. "I miss you too."

He cleared his throat. "I don't miss you," Roy affirmed.

"Then why am I in your hallucinations?"

He blinked and there was light- no darkness. The air was still- no wind. And there was no Cheshire Cat to hold him- no temptress.

He wasn't happy. But he also didn't miss her.

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**A/N: I'm very happy with this, honestly. Leave a review? Thanks for reading.**

**~Sky**


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